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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29365449">Kiss</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKase/pseuds/SpaceKase'>SpaceKase</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Femslash February 2021 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:55:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,245</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29365449</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKase/pseuds/SpaceKase</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicole has a few personal questions for Sally.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sally Acorn/Nicole the Holo-Lynx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Femslash February 2021 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kiss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Sally?"</p><p>"Hmm?" Sally turned her head to the source of the sound. Nicole had projected a hologram in her room. The green eyes she'd chosen for herself were downcast.</p><p>"Can I ask you a personal question?"</p><p>"Of course, Nicole."</p><p> "You are an organic being. You are born into this world already knowing feelings. Sensations like softness and pain...anger, hurt, and happiness." Nicole's hologram looked so lifelike; the only way Sally could tell that she wasn't flesh and blood was from the way her blue-black hair and purple dress didn't sway in the slight breeze coming from her window. "I have known about feelings, literal and emotional, for my entire existence. But only recently have I been feeling my own." Her arms wrapped around herself, making her look new and vulnerable. "Tell me...you've dealt with being able to feel for seventeen years. How do you manage it? What do you do to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed?"</p><p>Sally had always been quick on her feet, both physically and mentally. It was what made her such an effective leader for the ragtag bunch of misfits known as the Freedom Fighters. She was known for her quick wit and sharp mind.</p><p>But <em>this? </em>This question threw her for a loop. </p><p>"Honestly? I...don't know how to answer that question." For so long, she'd been able to keep her professional and personal selves--the Princess Royal of the House of Acorn and the tactician behind all of the Freedom Fighters' plans, and Sally Acorn the seventeen-year-old girl who'd been through too much too soon--separate. In the field, she was the fearless, level-headed leader people looked to for guidance and reassurance. In that mindset, it was easy to ignore the fact that everything had been taken from her; it was only at night that she let herself feel her sorrows, regrets, fears, and secret hopes.</p><p>Her blood-related family being brought back to her <em>should </em>have been a good thing. She had grown to care about her brother and her mother, of course. But even so, when she thought of the word 'brother,' it wasn't Elias who came to her mind; it was Rotor and Tails. And when she thought of the word 'mother,' she didn't think of Queen Alicia; she thought of Rosie and Julayla.</p><p>And her father...</p><p>Well. The less said about <em>him</em>, the better.</p><p>She was no stranger to great expectations being placed on her. For most of her life, she'd been the only heir to the Acorn throne. But with the reunion of the royal family, the expectations changed; suddenly, she was expected to treat one family as if she'd always known him, instead of the one that had actually raised her and been raised with her. Suddenly, she was expected to stay in the palace, instead of going out into the field, where she was so much more experienced, where she could do so much more.</p><p>So suddenly, she'd gotten everything she'd dreamed of as a child, and she realized that the last time she'd felt so powerless was when Robotnik had staged his coup. There were no more late night girl talks with Bunnie, no more going over plans and schematics with Rotor, no more inventing and tinkering with Tails.</p><p>And for over a year, she'd thought Sonic, who she'd truly loved at the time...still did, just in a different way...was dead. After everything she'd already lost, that was what came the closest to breaking her.</p><p>Sally sighed. "The truth is...for a while there, I don't think I <em>was </em>managing my emotions very well."</p><p>"It is justified...you've been through a lot."</p><p>She managed a weak smile at the shimmering hologram. "Do you think Sonic will understand? Even after...slapping him?" On stage. In front of all their friends and family.</p><p>There'd been an outrage amongst the Mobius population after the paparazzi documented that particular incident. She'd gotten so much hate mail, so many death threats, from all over the planet. Eventually she'd stopped reading it; by that point, she figured that none of their words could hurt her more than the words she kept saying to herself.</p><p>"Of course." Nicole's hologram shifted forward, and laid a hand on top of Sally's. There was no physical presence, of course, but the small gesture still made the fur on the back of Sally's wrist stand on end. "He's a good person and he loves you. You...love him, too, don't you?"</p><p>Sally nodded, lifting her deep red forelock away from her eyes with her hand. If Bunnie were here, she'd be on her case, tittering about her hair hiding her pretty face, thinking out loud to herself about what to do with it. "Of course I do. But...I don't think I'm in love with him. Not anymore." Thinking back on that whole situation had exhausted her.</p><p>"What is the difference?"</p><p>"That's..." Sally sighed. That was an even harder question to answer. "Is there a reason this is all coming up?"</p><p>"Because...I am wondering if I am in love."</p><p>Sally blinked, certain that she looked comedic as she did a double take of her friend. "Y...you are?"</p><p>Nicole looked down and to the left. She had no blood vessels, so she wasn't blushing, but she still looked shy. Sally had been amazed by Nicole the very first time she'd held her in her hand as a tiny computer, and she'd only found her more and more amazing as things changed and her friend grew. Right now, she felt more real than anything else in Sally's life.</p><p>"I'm...familiar with the feeling. That time I was in your body and laid eyes on Sonic...well."</p><p>"Oh." Sally gave a little laugh, running her fingers through her bangs, suddenly feeling shy herself. "Oh, gosh. <em>That's</em> a bit embarrassing."</p><p>"I don't agree. It was...such a <em>wonderful </em>sensation."</p><p>"I'm glad." Nicole deserved everything. Anything she desired. She'd done so much for Sally, not just aiding her in fighting for freedom, but being a confidant about things she couldn't even tell Sonic or Bunnie, and now running this new city all on her own.</p><p>"I've been feeling that...sensation...lately. Or something like it." It was here that Nicole stared into Sally's eyes. The princess gulped; she'd chosen the most striking shade of green. "I feel it when I look at you. When I hear you laugh, see you smile..." Nicole's holographic hand was back on Sally's, and this time, she could swear that she felt something. A tingle; a spark. "That night we gazed at the stars together is my most cherished memory. I only hope that I can hold your hand again some day."</p><p>"Oh..." Sally breathed. "Oh, Nicole..."</p><p>"If you...do not return my feelings, I'll understand."</p><p>Sally didn't need words for this. She leaned up and placed her lips where the fur of Nicole's left cheek would be if she had a body, right atop the delicate black marking underneath her eye.</p><p>Sally didn't physically feel anything, of course. There was no fur beneath her lips. But she couldn't mistake that same tingling, sparkling, staticky twice in a row.</p><p>Nicole was some of the most advanced AI around. She didn't need to be told just what the gesture meant. "Oh." Nicole giggled, actually giggled. Sally couldn't help chuckling along with her.</p><p>That night, Sally went to bed, feeling warmer and safer than she had in a long time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If y'all want to talk to me off of AO3, come see me over at Tumblr! I'm Space-Kase over there, too.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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